Gazprom obtains drilling works of 3 wells at Bhola gas field
Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation Gazprom obtained a contract for drilling 3 wells at Bhola gas field at a cost of Tk 648.39 crore (equivalent to about $77.184 million), reports UNB.
The cabinet committee on public procurement in a meeting on Thursday approved a proposal of the state-owned Petrobangla in this regard to award the contract to the Russian firm to do the job.
Four more procurement proposals from different ministries also received the nod of the committee in the meeting presided over by finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.
The energy and mineral resources division placed the Petrobangla's unsolicited proposal, based on Speedy Supply of Power and Energy Act 2010, to the cabinet Body for approval.
It means, the Russian firm was selected for the project through negotiation and without any competitive bidding process.
Gazprom will take over the drilling works from the Petrobangla’s subsidiary Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (BAPEX) which discovered the Bhola gas field.
Mustafa Kamal said the Gazprom was picked up for the project since it is a reputed international firm having vast experience in this field.
Earlier, Gazprom had drilled a number of wells at different gas fields to enhance gas production. But many energy experts were critical over the contract value of the works of the Russian firm.
The cabinet committee approved a proposal of the roads and highways department to appoint Joint Venture of (1) SMEC International Pty Ltd, Australia (2) Swedish National Road Consulting AB, Sweden, (3) ACE Consultants Ltd., Bangladesh and (4) BCL Associates Ltd, Bangladesh at a cost of Tk 469.2 million (46.92 crore) for its project - Installation of Excel Load Control Centre at the important points of highways.
A proposal of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) received the nod of the committee to award a Tk 6.58 billion (658.40 crore) contract on G-to-G basis to Thales of France to set up radar system including CNS-ATM (Communications, Navigation and Surveillance-Air Traffic Management) at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
The cabinet body also approved a proposal of the Water Resources Ministry to award Tk 3.67 billion (367.28 crore) contract to Khulna Shipyard Limited for 6.3 km river bank protection and 14.750 km dredging works of Arial Kha River in Madaripur district.